University of North Dakota Women's Cross Country

Clay had doubled as UNDs head womens track and field coach from 1985 to 2011, as well as interim mens head track and field coach in 2011, until a restructuring of the programs coaching staff. The 2015-16 season was a continuation of a rebuild of sorts for UND, which had nary a senior runner on the womens side and just one on the mens side. Both teams displayed marked improvement throughout the year, culminating with the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional, where a pair of mens runners (Drew Campbell, Alec Anderson) cracked the top half of the individual standings. A hallmark of Clays distinguished tenure has been academic excellence, and 2015-16 was no different. His mens and womens programs both received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for their most recent multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR), and both were also named 2015 Division I Cross Country All-Academic Teams by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). It marked the 19th time in the last 20 years that UNDs womens team was honored as an All-Academic Team, and the 18th time in 19 years for the mens squad. Clays mens team was also named UNDs Male Scholar Team of the Year at the athletic departments annual Night of Champions all-sports awards ceremony. In 2015, Clay once again guided his squads to the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional, where the mens team earned its highest regional finish (19th) of the DI era. Between the two teams, 14 of Clays runners earned academic all-conference accolades from the Big Sky Conference. In 2014, Clay and UND hosted the Big Sky Cross Country Championship for the first time in program history. Running on their home course at Ray Richards Golf Course, each of Clays top five runners ran personal-record times. Academically, Clays mens and womens teams once again received USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors, with 20 individuals nabbing academic all-conference honors. During the 2013 cross country season, UNDs second in the Big Sky Conference, Clay coached the first Division I all-region performer in program history in junior . The Grand Forks, N.D., native placed 25th at the NCAA DI Midwest Region Championsip two weeks after finishing fifth at the conference meet. In the classroom, both Clays mens and womens squads earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors while 17 runners earned Big Sky Conference Fall All-Academic honors. In 2012, Clay guided UND cross country through its first season of Big Sky Conference membership. UNDs womens team placed seventh and the mens team eighth, and both squads got their first taste of a Division I championship at the 2012 NCAA Midwest Regional in Springfield, Mo. UNDs womens and mens teams placed 22nd and 24th, respectively, at regionals to finish ahead of programs such as Nebraska and Creighton. On Sept. 10, 2012, UND made school history when the mens team earned its first-ever appearance in the Division I regional rankings. That week, UND was ranked No. 14 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Midwest Region rankings. The 2011 cross country season was highlighted by outstanding athletic and academic accomplishments. Serving as host of the of the Great West Conference Championship, UND placed second despite being without the services of 2010 GWC Athlete of the Year Lindsay Anderson, who redshirted the season. In Andersons absence, senior Emily Emerson led the way with a fifth-place finish and all-conference first team honors. She was joined on the All-GWC team by freshman , who placed sixth and claimed GWC Freshman of the Year honors. On the mens side, senior Tyler Rose capped his distinguished career by earning All-GWC Second Team accolades with an eighth-place finish. Following the year, Rose was named the GWC Student-Athlete Advisory Committees Sportsmanship Award. In the classroom, five student-athletes garnered academic all-conference honors, three from the mens team and two from the womens team. In 2011, Clay mentored several track and field record-breakers, conference champions, and conference scorers. On the womens side, senior Lindsay Anderson won GWC indoor titles in the 3,000 and 5,000-meters, setting a conference record in the latter, and was named GWC Indoor Female Athlete of the Year. UND student-athletes who set school records included Christine Weinreich (hammer throw, indoor weight throw), Jessica Butler (100-meter hurdles, 60-meter hurdles), the 800-meter relay team of Brittney Bolstad, Paige Kuplic, Mikaela Hirst and Sarah Fegley, and the distance medley relay team of Anderson, Megan Gray, Emily Emerson and Savana Weller. On the mens side, senior Josh LaBlanc broke the oldest record in school history when he ran the 10,000-meters in 30:05.24, toppling the previous record set by Arjan Gelling in 1968 by 25 seconds. He also set the school record in the 5K and the conference record in the 3,000-meters 8:31.15 at the GWC Indoor Championship. Following the season, LaBlanc was named the 2010-11 GWC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year. UNDs cross country teams enjoyed a superlative 2010 season, highlighted by junior season Lindsay Anderson winning the Great West Conference Cross Country championship and earning GWC Most Valuable Runner honors. Anderson and teammate Emily Emerson were both named to the All-GWC first team after leading the Sioux to a third-place team finish. On the mens side, UND placed sixth at the conference meet. The 2010 track and field season was a memorable one for the Sioux women, as Clays student-athletes set numerous school records. At the GWC Indoor Championship, junior Jessica Butler won the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 8.98 seconds and led the Sioux to a third-place finish.At the GWC Outdoor Championship, Brenny was the runner-up in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs. Also during the outdoor season, sophomore Emily Emerson was twice named GWC Athlete of the Week. UNDs quartet of Mikaela Hirst, Paige Kuplic, Cheri Boyer and Taryn Anderson broke an 11-year old record in the 800-meter relay at the Coastal Carolina Shamrock Invitational. Several UND athletes also recorded times, throws and jumps that have cracked UNDs all-time top-10 lists. Clays womens cross country team earned team and individual runner-up honors at the 2009 Great West Conference Championship; the squad finished second in the team standings while senior Brittany Brenny earned her second straight all-conference first team nod by taking second in the individual standings. Brenny was joined on the all-conference team by teammate and second-team selection Katherine Enabnit. In 2008-09, UNDs first as a Division I program, Clay guided his team to a third-place finish at the inaugural Great West Conference Cross Country Championship, where three of his runners earned all-conference honors: Brenny (first team), Mandy Gefroh (first) and Emily Emerson (second). Clays track and field team finished fourth at the 2009 GWC Outdoor Championship, highlighted by individual conference titles by Jessica Clausnitzer (pole vault) and Kristi Dahlheimer (3,000-meter steeplechase). UND also placed fourth at the 2009 GWC Indoor Championship, led by a pair of individual titles from Clausnitzer, a two-time Division II All-American, in the 60-meter hurdles and the pole vault. A hallmark of Clays coaching career at UND has been academic succes, and the 2009-10 was as successful as any. Clays womens track and field team boasted the sixth-highest grade point average (3.5) in Division I last season, earning the team 2010 Division I Womens All-Academic Track and Field Team honors by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Additionally, senior Kristi Dahlheimer earned a prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship and was named a 2009-10 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American. The previous season, Clays track and field squad was named a 2009 Division I Womens All-Academic Track and Field Team by the USTFCCCA, ranking 12th among 130 teams with a 3.44 grade point average. Brenny and Dahlheimer were each named to the 2009 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Womens Track and Field/Cross Country team. Nine track and field student-athletes were named to 2009 Great West Conference Winter/Spring All-Academic team, the most of any UND team, and two more earned 2008 Fall Academic All-Great West Conference accolades. During his time at the helm during UNDs Division II era, Clay established a program that is respected for its success at both the conference national levels. Among his coaching honors: NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year (2000) NCAA North Central Region Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year (2000) NCAA North Central Region Cross Country Coach of the Year (1999, 1994, 1991) NCC Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year (2007, 1988 NCC Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year (2000) NCC Cross Country Coach of the Year (2006, 2001, 1994, 1992) In May 2008, Clay coached Heidi Evans to a national title in the 1,500-meter run at the Division II national championships. With the title, Evans became the second individual womens track & field national champion in UND school history and the first Fighting Sioux womens outdoor champion. The only other UND womens track national individual title came in 1994, when former UND runner Marie Crep won an NCAA national title in the 800-meter run in the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. Clay served on the NCAA Track and Field Subcommittee and the NCAA Track and Cross Country Rules Committee from 1999-2004. He is a past president of the NCAA Division II Track Coaches Association and served on the U.S. Track Coaches Association Board of Directors from 1995-1997. Clay was also the coordinator of the NCAA Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame from 1996-2003. A certified USATF Level I Track and Field Coach, Clay was honored by his peers when he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the NCAA Cross Country Coaches Association in 1992 and again in 2007. In 1996, Clay received the Distinguished Service Award from the NCAA Track Coaches Association. Under Clays leadership, UND won the 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2006 North Central Conference Cross Country Championship and the 1994 North Central Region title. The 2000 cross country team placed second in the NCAA national championships. The runner-up finish was the highest for a UND cross country team. From 1991 to 2007, UND made 12 team appearances in the NCAA national cross country meet. The program posted team finishes of fifth place or higher in the NCAA National meet seven times including five fourth-place finishes. In track and field, UNDs highest team finishes came in 1993 and 1994 when UND placed fifth and sixth respectively at the NCAA Indoor National Track & Field Championships. Clay has coached UND track and cross country athletes to over 80 individual All-America finishes since 1987. Clay came to UND from Central Missouri State where he served two years as head coach of the mens and womens cross country team and the womens track team. In 1984, Clays Central Missouri State track and field team claimed a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. A native of Dawson, Minn., Clay graduated from St. Cloud State in 1982 with a bachelors degree in physical education. He went on to earn a masters degree from St. Cloud State in 1983. A four-year track and cross country letterwinner and team captain for the Huskies, Clay qualified for the Division II cross country championships in 1978, 1979, and 1980.

Silvers student-athletes continue to challenge the best in the Big Sky Conference, as earned all-conference honors in the high jump at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championship with a second-place finish. She finished her career ranked fifth all-time in the UND record books with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches (1.70 meters). Pole vaulter also received recognition from the conference. The school record holder in the event, he was named a Big Sky Scholar Athlete at the end of the season, and finished just off the podium in fourth place at the Big Sky Outdoor Championship. In all, the Fighting Hawks vaulters and jumpers added seven new marks to the program's all-time top-10 lists in 2015-16, four on the womens side and three on the mens. UNDs pole vaulters also appeared on the cover of in February 2015. Silvers guided his student-athletes to new heights in 2014-15, including two school records and two Big Sky All-Conference performances. Additionally, Silvers oversaw 23 performances that cracked UND's all-time top 10: 14 by the women's team and nine by the men. Four of those efforts landed all the way in UND's all-time top three. Junior twice broke UND's pole vault record, with his second record-breaking performance also landing him a third-place finish at the Big Sky Outdoor Championship. His other all-conference performer was sophomore , who finished third in the triple jump at the indoor conference championship. 2012-13, Silvers mentord the likes of junior , who broke the school record in both the indoor heptathlon and outdoor pole vaut. Farley qualified for both the NCAA West Regional and the USA Junior Track and Field Championship in the triple jump while earning USATF All-America honors. In the classroom, Farley was named a USTFCCCA Academic All-American. Those individual titles were among the 13 GWC All-Conference performances by Silvers' student-athletes in 2011-12. Silvers came to UND after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Idaho State, where he worked primarily with ISU's multi-event student-athletes. One of those student-athletes, Justin Critser, qualified for the 2010 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Before beginning his coaching career in 2009, Silvers was a pole vaulter and decathlete at Idaho State from 2004-09. A two-time letterwinner at ISU, Silvers was a member of the Bengals' Big Sky Conference championship team in 2006 and was the 2009 Idaho Cup pole vault champion. Silvers graduated from ISU in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and a minor in coaching. He received his master's degree in athletic administration from ISU in 2010 and is considering pursuing a degree in sport psychology. Silvers received his USA Track & Field (USATF) Level 1 coaching certificate in 2010. In July 2012, Silvers attended the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Academy and attained Jumping Event Specialist Certification. He has been published in the USTFCCCA's official publication, , contributing an article entitled "Mental Training for Track and Field."

Jones' second season with the program, UNDs athletes enjoyed tremendous success in the field. On the womens side, his student-athletes entered 17 new marks into the programs all-time top-10 lists. Three new school records were set, as senior snapped the record in the weight throw, and junior did the same in the javelin while also breaking the hammer record once. Freshman had a very impressive collegiate debut under Jones tutelage, setting a new program-best mark in the hammer on three occasions. UNDs mens throwers saw seven of their marks crack the top-10 on the programs all-time lists during the 2014-15 campaign, and two school records were broken there as well by senior . He bested the program records in both the weight and the hammer, breaking each three different times. On both the mens and womens sides, UNDs throwers compiled six all-conference honors. Bissell was an All-Big Sky Conference honoree in both the hammer and the weight, while classmate turned in an All-Big Sky performance in the discus. Freshman secured all-conference honors in the shot put at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships. For the women, Eggert captured All-Big Sky honors in the javelin, and Detloff took home all-conference honors in the hammer. His first season in Grand Forks was a resounding success as well, as his student-athletes broke five different school records and totaled 35 new entries in UNDs mens and womens all-time top-10 lists. Senior took down the school records in the weight and hammer throws, sophomore Ke-Ke Burks did the same on the womens side, and classmate broke the school record in the shot put. In all, 12 male student-athletes and 23 female student-athletes cracked UNDs all-time top-10 lists, including six new marks in the womens hammer, five in the womens weight, and four each in the womens shot put and discus and mens weight. Jones came to North Dakota after five record-setting seasons as an assistant coach at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minn. During his tenure, Jones mentored 15 Division III All-Americans, four Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Field Athletes of the Year, and 21 individual MIAC champions. His throwers set four MIAC and seven school records over those five seasons. In 2013, Jones coached the Division III national champion in the womens discus and was later named the 2013 USTFCCCA Central Region Womens Assistant Coach of the Year. Jones, who also served as an assistant strength coach for the past two years, oversaw the strength and conditioning plan for Hamline mens and womens track, while also serving as the programs travel coordinator. Prior to his time at Hamline, Jones was an assistant coach for one season (2007-08) at Concordia University in Saint Paul and helped the Golden Bears score points in the throws at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championship for the first time in five years. Additionally, he coached the school record-holder in the womens indoor shot put and weight throw. Jones is a 2008 graduate of Hamline with a bachelors degree in psychology. A four-year letterwinner and two-year captain, Jones was a 10-time All-MIAC performer and a two-time MIAC All-Academic selection. He received his USATF Level 2 certification (throwing events) in 2009, his USA Weightlifting certification in 2013 and his USTFCCCA Academy Throws Specialist Certification in 2014.

Galbraith engineered a record-setting season for both his men's and women's squads. Burks, Griep, Eggert,  and incoming freshman  qualified for the 2013 U.S. Junior Track & Field Outdoor Championships, the first in UND track and field history to do so. Both Eggert and Farley earned All-America honors in their respective events. Additionally, Eggert, Farley and advanced to the NCAA Division I NCAA West Region prelims. At the conference level, Johnson, Griep and Clarke earned the first All-Big Sky honors in program history. Senior Kirsten Haas was named an Academic All-American, while 36 student-athletes earned indoor academic all-conference accolades and 26 were named outdoor academic all-conference. Galbraith, who was named head coach at UND on July 19, 2011, led UND's women's team to runner-up finishes at both the 2012 Great West Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships, while the men's squad placed third at both championship meets. Under Galbraith's tutelage, UND student-athletes claimed nine individual GWC titles, highlighted by senior Emily Emerson's GWC record time of 4:27.29 in the 1,500-meters, the final race of her decorated career. Mikaela Hirst (triple jump), Taylor Brett (pole vault),  (discus), (800-meters),  (shot put) and  (pole vault) also captured GWC outdoor titles, while Brett and Christine Weinreich (weight throw) won GWC indoor championships. Senior sprinter Chris Stoks won UND's prestigious Glenn "Red" Jarrett Male Athlete of the Year Award (all sports), senior Tyler Rose received the GWC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Sportsmanship Award, senior Lindsay Anderson was named the GWC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and freshman  was named the GWC Female Freshman of the Year. During Galbraith's first year at UND, his student-athletes were equally prolific in the classroom, as both the men's and women's squads were named 2011-12 Division I All-Academic teams by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). UND's women's team boasted a cumulative 3.45 grade point average to tie for 13th among the 171 Division I women's teams honored. On the men's side, UND owned a 3.19 cumulative GPA to tie for 31st among 85 honored teams. Individually, Anderson was named to the 2012 Capital One Academic AllAmerica Women's Track and Field/Cross Country Third Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She was joined on the Academic All-District Team by her UND teammate, junior Kirsten Haas. During the fall of 2012, Galbraith and his staff unveiled a new addition to the program's practice facilities: the Gill NCAA Double Ring Tall hammer cage. The first-ever hammer cage at UND, it is the same model that was used at the 2008 Olympic trials hammer throw and is built to the specifications required to host an NCAA championship. The cage, which also enhances training safety for UND's student-athletes, puts the program's throwing facilities on par with nearly every school in the nation. An experienced collegiate track and field coach with a diverse coaching background, Galbraith came to UND after a highly successful seven-year tenure as head men's and women's track and field coach at the University of Northern Colorado, where he guided the Bears through their transition from Division II to Division I and into the Big Sky Conference.  During his time at UNC, Galbraith's student-athletes set 15 school records and added 68 marks to the program's men's and women's top-10 lists. UNC also boasted several significant milestones, including its first NCAA Division I qualifiers in school history (all sports), the first NCAA national championship female qualifier in school history, and the first Big Sky individual champions (all sports) in school history. Galbraith also developed a comprehensive training and strength development plan for Amr Seoud, a Beijing Olympic qualifier. Seoud trained with the Bears in 2010 and went on to set two Egyptian national records and win the Gold medal in the 200 meters at the 2010 African Championships. Prior to his arrival at UNC, Galbraith spent five seasons (1999 to 2004) as an assistant track and field coach at Long Beach State University, where he coached sprints and hurdles. In four of his five seasons, he coached the top three finishers at the conference championship in the men's 400 meters, and he also had the top freshmen finishers at the Big West Championship in both the men's and women's 400 meters his final three years. Galbraith is a 1981 graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications and was the cross country team's most valuable runner as a senior. He served as a volunteer cross country coach at LMU from 1986 to 1993, and received a master's degree in communication in 1991. In 1995, Galbraith was named head track and field coach at Los Angeles Valley College, where he spent two seasons. He also served two stints (1993-95, 1997-99) as assistant track coach with Track West, a USA Track and Field (USATF) national club program based out of Santa Monica, Calif. Galbraith has also served as the meet manager of the Southern California Twilight Distance Qualifier in Los Angeles, and the Southern California Cross Country Championships in Walnut, Calif.